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Singapore ruling party wins elections, returns to power

Landslide victory for the People's Action Party, which has ruled since 1965, shows opposition efforts had little effect

September 11, 20155:34PM ET

As expected, the party that has ruled Singapore since it became an independent nation a half-century ago returned to power for five more years following a massive victory in general election Friday.

The People's Action Party swept 83 of the 89 seats in Parliament while the opposition Workers' Party got six seats. In an indication that the PAP has regained some of its lost popularity, it won 69.86 percent of the votes cast, according to the Elections Department, compared to 60 percent votes in the 2011 elections.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who won from the Ang Mo Kio constituency, thanked his supporters for giving "us this very good result."

"We are very grateful, we are very happy, but at the same time, we are very humbled by the result. ... Tomorrow will be better than today. SG100 will be better than SG50," he said, referring to the 50 years that the PAP has ruled Singapore since independence in 1965.

The party has won every election since 1965 and this is the 12th time it will form a government. Since independence, the PAP had also won every seat in Parliament until 1981 after which the opposition started winning one or two seats. Its best performance was in 2011 when the Workers' Party won six seats, and added one more to its tally in a by-election.

Friday's result showed the opposition failed to make a dent despite highlighting the country's various problems such as income disparity, restrictions on free speech, overcrowding caused by immigration, and the rising cost of living — Singapore is the world's most expensive city, according to an international survey.

"It's a PAP landslide. An election that was focused on the opposition gaining ground had a reverse effect on voters. We are seeing the consensus of a silent majority, the people who are not active on social media, and they are sticking with the PAP," said Bridget Welsh, a senior research associate at National Taiwan University's Center for East Asia Democratic Studies.

Michael Barr, associate professor of international relations at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia, said the timing of the election clearly made a difference — it was called right after Singapore's 50th birthday celebrations on Aug. 9 while nationalist feelings were still high, and months after the death on March 23 of Singapore's founding leader Lee Kuan Yew, the father of Prime Minister Lee.

"There has also been a real effort on the government's part to fix the worst of their problems, and be seen fixing the worst of their problems," said Barr. "The PAP has been campaigning since 2011 to get this result, and it has paid off."

The senior Lee became the country's first prime minister in 1965 and remained in office until 1990, a period of rapid development and prosperity. His son has been prime minister since 2004. In between, another PAP leader, Goh Chok Tong, was prime minister.

Critics say the PAP gets an unfair advantage in the polls because of a system in which some constituencies, such as Lee's Ang Mo Kio, are represented by a group of four to six lawmakers. In a winner-takes-all, first-past-the-post system, all members of the victorious team get entry into Parliament. The PAP usually fields a stalwart along with lightweight politicians whereas the opposition is hard pressed to find a heavy lifter to lead a group.

But in 2011, the Workers' Party wrested one such multi-candidate ward, Aljunied, from the PAP, sending five candidates to Parliament out of the seven seats it won. The party retained that ward and its five seats on Friday.

About 2.46 million people out of a population of 5.47 million were eligible to vote, up from 2.35 million in 2011, with an increased number of voters born after independence. Most of these young voters take Singapore's prosperity, stability and a corruption-free, low-crime society for granted. These have been the main selling points of the PAP in past elections.

But Singaporeans have also been asking uncomfortable questions about the restrictions on free speech and media, which they had been willing to sacrifice in return for economic prosperity. They also see an increasing number of immigrants from all over Asia, filling not only low-paying jobs but also middle-level and high-paying positions.

There have also been questions about the country's much-vaunted pension scheme with many wondering if retirees are reaping real benefits. In the last quarter ending in June, Singapore's economy contracted by 4 percent, and the annual growth rate is projected to be 1.8 percent.